Whatcom County Agricultural Facts
- Whatcom County has 148,027 acres of land in farms
- Nearly a $290 million market value of Agricultural production
- Whatcom County is 1st out of 17 counties in Western Washington
- 6th out of 39 counties in the state
- 78th out of 3,075 farm counties in the U.S. (top 3%)
- Dairy has a farm gate or market value greater than $190 million
- Approximately 140 dairy farms with an average of a little less than 400 cows and milk production average of 22,780 lbs./cow or over 14 million gallons of milk per month!
- Whatcom County's corn silage crop reaches over 17,000 acres and grass silage nearly 27,000 acres. Grass is cut every 30-35 days beginning the first of May, through October. Whatcom County ranks 1st in the stae for silage crop production.
- More than 85 % of Washington's Red Raspberries are porduced in Whatcom County. More than 65% of the U.S. Red Raspberries are produced in Whatcom County.
- Whatcom County raises the largest per capita crop of red raspberries in the world, with 99 growers harvesting over 7,200 acres.
- The raspberry industry provides 6,000 seasonal jobs for the 6 week harvest period
- About 280 acres of strawberries are in production in Whatcom County
- Some are grown for the local retail and U-Pick markets. The majority are sold for premium products, i.e. gourmet ice cream, jams, etc.
- There are approximately 2,500 acres in blueberry production
- Whatcom County is a certified seed potato area with between 1,800 and 1,900 acres harvested and an annual yield of nearly 38,000 tons of seed
- Whatcom County ranks 6th in the state in Greenhouse/Nursery industry with a nearly $25 million market value
- About 6,000 head of beef graze on Whatcom County's pasture lands which ranks us 4th in the state for beef production
MISCELLANEOUS DEFINITIONS
| Farm: In 2002, a farm is defined as any place where $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold. The $1,000 threshold can be met by any combination of sales and government payments. Abnormal farms are institutional, experimental, and research farms. |
| Land in farms: The acreage designated as ‘‘land in farms'' consists primarily of agricultural land used for crops, pasture, or grazing. It also includes woodland and wasteland, provided it was part of the farm operator's total operation. Land in farms includes acres in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Programs (WRP). |
| Forage Land: Land used for all hay and all haylage, grass silage, and greenchop |
| Total cropland includes five components: cropland harvested, crop failure, cultivated summer fallow, cropland used only for pasture, and idle cropland. |
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Cropland harvested includes row crops and closely sown crops; tree fruits, small fruits, and tree nuts; vegetables; other minor crops and hay. |
| Agriculture: The science, art and business of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock. Farming - growing and harvesting of food, fibers, forests, and flowers - providing almost everything we eat, wear, and use.
Agriculture is the world's oldest, largest, and most essential industry. Yet, in America's urban society, 90% of the population has little contact with the systems that determine our general food welfare and standard of food quality. Only 2 million Americans are actually farmers, even though agriculture is our nation's largest industry. But, over 20 million people work in agriculture. Growers produce the raw products and other people turn them into the things we use and eat every day. |
| Stewardship: The management and care of basic tools of a trade. Basic tools needed for food production are: AIR, SOLAR ENERGY, SOIL & WATER. |
| Natural Resources: Actual and potential forms of wealth supplied by nature, such as coal, wood, water power, and arable land. |
| Conservation: The protection, preservation, and careful management of the environment, or restoration of wildlife and of natural resources such as forests, soil, and water. Farmers are environmentalists who care about resources because their business depends on them. They want to pass the farm on to thier children. |
| Sustainable: Sustainable agriculture is growing food, fiber and forestry products that are: 1) Environmentally friendly now and in the future; 2) Profitable enough to keep US agriculture in business; 3) Acceptable to society. This means that people find the products and the way they're produced to embody our highest values. (For example, it's unacceptable for agriculture to pollute streams while growing its products.) |
| Watershed: A watershed is the land area that delivers run off water to the area's lowest point - a stream, river or lake. Small watersheds flow into bigger ones until they eventually reach the ocean. This water travels across and under fields, forests, cities, streets and lawns. |
| Purchase of Development Rights - PDR: We may consider the ownership of land to be the possession of a "bundle of rights" associated with that land. These rights include the right to possess, use, modify, develop, lease, or sell the land. Mineral rights constitute one of the items in the bundle with which most people are aware. If the mineral rights have been separated from the remaining items in the bundle, the owner is prohibited from drilling for oil or from mining the land. The right to develop a piece of land for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes is also a right within the bundle. The purchase of development rights involves the sale of that right while leaving all the remaining rights as before. PDR is a voluntary program, where a land trust or some other agency usually linked to local government, makes an offer to a landowner to buy the development rights on the parcel. The landowner is free to turn down the offer, or to try to negotiate a higher price. Once an agreement is made, a permanent deed restriction is placed on the property which restricts the type of activities that may take place on the land in perpetuity. In this way, a legally binding guarantee is achieved to ensure that the parcel will remain agricultural, or as open (green) space forever. This is because the agency involved retires the development rights upon purchase. The deed restriction may also be referred to as a conservation easement, or, since most PDR programs are designed to preserve agricultural use, an agricultural conservation easement. As a result, PDR programs are occasionally called PACE programs (purchase of agricultural conservation easements). |
| Transfer of Development Rights - TDR: Transfer of development rights (TDR) is just one tool used to preserve farmlands. TDR is the exchange of zoning privileges from areas with low population needs, such as farmland, to areas of high population needs, such as downtown areas. These transfers allow for the preservation of open spaces and historic landmarks, while giving urban areas a chance to expand and satisfy growth needs. |
For more information contact:
Cheryl DeHaan
Community Education Program Manager
voice: (360) 354-1337
fax: (360) 354-0948
1796 Front Street
Lynden, WA 98264
cdehaan@wcfarmfriends.com
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